Review:
In an orphanage in London’s Hoxley district, a young girl yearns to find her parents and learn the truth about her history. Cue the orchestra for a rendition of Oliver’s “Where is Love” or Annie’s “Maybe,” and pull out a box of tissues, right?
Not so fast. In The Enchanted Riddle, the first installment of The Scarlet Stockings trilogy by Charlotte Kandel, we meet Daphne, a thirteen-year-old orphan with an ambition: to dance the finest stages of Europe and become a prima ballerina. When a mysterious package arrives at the orphanage for Daphne, the quest is on to achieve her dreams and solve the riddle of the magic scarlet stockings the package contains. This pursuit catapults Daphne from the vaudeville theaters of Hoxley to stage of the Royal Ballet Academy in Paris, where she finds heartbreak and disaster, and finally the truth.
Unlike the sympathetic orphans found elsewhere in literature, Daphne vacillates between friendly camaraderie and prima-donna arrogance. She makes choices that alienate her friends, only to beg forgiveness and steal her way back into their (and our) hearts again and again. In the end, we discover with Daphne that a dream come true is anything but, unless the people we love are at our side . . . and watching our back.
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